I'll come straight forward, in-out honest to you;
To be a tennis player WILL cost A LOT.
Let's calculate the basics:
A GOOD QUALITY racket will cost around $100+
You need some tennis clothing which will cost approximately $100
Shoes will be cheap, around $30-$100
And other little accessories, like a tennis bag; sweat band; hat; sunglasses will come to about $50-$150
Altogether for a beginner it will be about $380 and those things can support them for a few good years so it actually isn't that expensive.

I'll come straight forward, in-out honest to you;
To be a tennis player WILL cost A LOT.
Let's calculate the basics:
A GOOD QUALITY racket will cost around $100+
You need some tennis clothing which will cost approximately $100
Shoes will be cheap, around $30-$100
And other little accessories, like a tennis bag; sweat band; hat; sunglasses will come to about $50-$150
Altogether for a beginner it will be about $380 and those things can support them for a few good years so it actually isn't that expensive.

Most kids that put in a good 4 to 5 days on the Court will go through Shoes much faster than that. As a Singles Player, playing at a level 3.5 or higher, you can burn through a pair in a matter of weeks. But the biggest expense is Coaching.

I don't give private lessons anymore but I have friends that charge in ranges between $30 per lesson to $50 per lesson. And these are group lessons, if you begin talking about private one on one lessons, then it goes up from there. And if you want to move into an Academy, now we're talking serious money. The kinds of numbers is equal to entry level college tuition.

This is why Sponsorships are so sought after. However a good sponsor will not only support you financially but they will support you emotionally as well because you are an investment for them and your problems become their problems and Sponsors don't like problems, they like solutions.

There's kid that lives in this region who is being Sponsored by a man who owns a Car Dealership. Apparently, his Son was a big Tennis Enthusiast that sadly was killed in a automobile accident a couple of years ago. In speaking with him, the whole family enjoyed going to their son's tennis matches and eventually found themselves enjoying the matches at the US Open so much so, that through their Late Son, the whole family started loving Tennis.

After their Son was killed, along with two other boys, they decided to Sponsor a Scholarship in their Son's Name and mentor any Student that had aspirations of doing something with Tennis as a Career. Jason was the lucky kid who's application was accepted and now all of his Tennis Learning needs are being paid for. But the Spencer's don't just pay the Bills for him, they talk to him whenever he has Teenage issues or begins to feel like maybe working towards being a Pro is too big for him. They are there to Right the Boat and Calm the Waters. This is not unusual, actually it's very usual for a Sponsor to do this because they don't want to see their money go down the drain.

But we all know, chances are, unless they found a very special kid, He's probably not going to become a Professional Touring Player someday but one never knows.

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

Thinking of it from that perspective, it is expensive.
But also looking at it from another view; high school scholar ships.
Here where I live, Australia, almost every high school offers scholar ships to students who are TRULY passionate about a sport. The student still gets offered academic studies and they are coached and trained for free; and the school supports them financially.

Private lessons here start at $110 for 9 weeks.
Group lessons; each group has 3 to 6 people in it; costs $90 dollars for 9 weeks.

I've taken private and group lessons and really the things I've realized is that unless your a REALLY professional player, group lessons ought to do the trick. So instead of wasting money on private it is better to switch to group because you save heaps of money. It's a good money saver in this stage of the economic crisis.

All good

Originally Posted by Robyna

Thinking of it from that perspective, it is expensive.
But also looking at it from another view; high school scholar ships.
Here where I live, Australia, almost every high school offers scholar ships to students who are TRULY passionate about a sport. The student still gets offered academic studies and they are coached and trained for free; and the school supports them financially.

Private lessons here start at $110 for 9 weeks.
Group lessons; each group has 3 to 6 people in it; costs $90 dollars for 9 weeks.

I've taken private and group lessons and really the things I've realized is that unless your a REALLY professional player, group lessons ought to do the trick. So instead of wasting money on private it is better to switch to group because you save heaps of money. It's a good money saver in this stage of the economic crisis.

The only thing i will add on private lessons is, If you are trying to get the most out of it you would need help from a quality coach.
I am friends with a mother whose daugther is treading the tournament path (AUSTRALIA) She gets help from Jeff Masters (WHO HAS ALL THE RIGHT CREDENTIALS) and, feels this really gives the help needed.I also think group lessons are great training if run well

In group lessons you have people you play with to compare yourself to.
When I was in private I just practiced and my coach told me I was good but I had nothing to compare to except for pro's (and how can I compare myself to them??).
When I was in group I was with kids of my age group who were better or did equally well then me, from watching them I have learnt a lot. I've learnt the best positions to hold your racket, how to change from eastern to western and in general how to play better.
I find group lessons a lot more fun and easier then private.
And in private there is no guarantee that you will have a good coach, is there?
I train group 2 times a week and private almost every other day with Peter Jordan, who once played professional.
To me there is no difference in private then to group. They are both the same.
And keeping in mind that it is not always you coach who can make you better, your coach can't help you mentally or make you physically stronger all them time.

Re: The expense of Junior tennis

Itís probably the same every where, However due to my experiences, its worse in USA and UK, A real Tennis has become the sport of the rich. In the USA there are a lot of none profits organization that get a lot of money from generous companies but those programs never create a tennis players and mostly called fun tennis . Not only the private coaching is very expensive but the you will soon find out 90 percent of the private coaches donít have any expertise to offer you anything beside taking your money and laughing at you. Be very careful and donít fall into the scam of these fake Tennis academies that they use this form to advertise for their facilities.

I find group lessons a lot more fun and easier then private.And in private there is no guarantee that you will have a good coach, is there?
I train group 2 times a week and private almost every other day with Peter Jordan, who once played professional.To me there is no difference in private then to group. They are both the same.
And keeping in mind that it is not always your coach who can make you better, your coach can't help you mentally or make you physically stronger all them time.

Greetings Robyna ~

I've tried to stay away from this conversation as much as possible because it's a no win argument as I see it. However, you made two statements that I must disagree with.

There are no guarantees in life as you are aware however before commissioning anyone who offers a professional service, you should research references & recommendations. You can scout a Coach very easily by simply asking them to tell you when they will be practicing next. Just about every Coach/Training Instructor will gladly tell you if they are open for new students. Then simply go watch how they conduct their Tennis Lessons.

1 Do they yell and/or scream at their students?

2. Do they pay strict attention to little details that their students are individually doing?

3. If it's a Group Lesson, does this person concentrate on the group as a whole or do they interact individually with various students that need correction?

4. *Very Important* Does this person rush through lessons or do they tend to stay on something until either they or the student feels they've understood the fundamentals of the drill?

5. Do they try to make the session fun for all and not just a few.
1f. Are the4 students spending more time picking up balls rather than drilling?

6. Did the Students start off with a Warm-up before they began working on Drills?

7. *Very Important* Does the Coach explain why you are working on a particular shot rather than just how to hit a particular shot?

8. Before the students got started, did the Coach inspect their equipment i.e. Shoes, Racquet, Strings, etc. to make sure they were in good condition in order to avoid injury or interruption in practice if something broke.

9. If it is Group Session you are auditing, does this Coach give equal time as best as possible to all the Students?

10. Was the lesson structured well giving adequate time to each drill before moving onto something else?

This is of course one way of determining if a Coach is professional at how they approach their job. However the very best way to address your concern is to take lessons and judge for yourself. Are you getting better through the results of their tutelage? You know where you were when you started and you are the most qualified in determining how far you've come since beginning Tennis Lessons. This is how you can tell if someone is good or not good. Are you getting better? Are you hitting with a new found confidence that you did not have prior to your lessons.

As for the difference between Private Lessons & Group Lessons, there is a huge difference in how one's tennis ability is absorbed. With a group, you have an Instructor that needs to divide their time between a number of Students. And try as they may, it is difficult to take note of every deficiency or difficulty individual students may have during a lesson. Especially when you have basically an hour in just to work. So you figure with say 8 to 10 students needing personal attention within that hour as opposed to one student needing personal attention within that hour, the results are clear.

Summary

I highly recommend private lessons if you are beyond beginner's level. If you already have a fairly good grasp of the fundamentals and can get the ball back over the net with moderate pace and can exercise relatively good footwork to position yourself for the opponents response, then private lessons is what I'd recommend.

If you are truly a beginner which means you have trouble holding your racquet in a position that would ensure a qualified strike on the ball, without doubt group lessons is what you should explore because at this point, it's not even certain a person at this level will enjoy the game well enough to continue.

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

Very Expensive

I know a family personally that is training to be pro.
They have given up a lot to support their tennis. Big house for an apt so as to be able to move when need be. Nice cars for the 10 years old family wagon.
But it is paying off. She started at 4 years old & is now 12. An agent & a Wilson deal of late along with a sports drink & pics on a magazine plus a major network interview.
But it has taken 8 years of sacrifice& hard work & long days and weeks for those 8 years.
& you still don't know if she will even be pro.
You don't have to give much. Just your life.

Hi JanSinnet;
Yes, my family is one of those families, I feel very bad for my parents. My family not only given up big house, good car and every other thing that you can imagine but they totally became homeless due to my dream , and my sisters dream of becoming pro, as coach said it, there is no guarantee in life, but I can assure you and guarantee for every person that turns pro, there are millions of other who loose everything that they have for that dream, what I hate the most are the people, the coaches and the academies that sell those people the dream and their main intention is to drain the family out of everything. Coach has given a lot of good advice but the scam in tennis goes far beyond those, The scam in tennis and sport is far larger then the scam in our financial and banking system . I have put 7 years of my heart into this sport and I finally realized what the heck with it. I choose to go to collage, become a journalist and hopefully one day write about what my family and I have been true, write about the scam artist in this business, I believe it should be a crime to lie and sell a dream to a child or his/her parents

I have not lived the day to day routine as Tennisteen & Coach have. My knowledge

comes from the family - I will call TF from now own Tennis Family. But what you 2 are saying sounds familiar with what TF have gone through & continue to go through every day.

TF do their own coaching. They have an athletic & business background so they their days & nights are spent training & promoting. They have been entupuners for most of their adult life so they have business that they run. They work form 7am till midnight & later every day 7 days a week. They do pay for coaches & hitting but are on court learning what they need to know to coach her their self. What ever part of the game they need they find the best to coach for her & learn so as to train. & yes its 6 hours a day 6 days a week.

So there is expense in $'s as well as time every day on court. Time that could be spent on other business endeavors.

They also instruct tennis as well as income. When not training their daughter they are giving instruction to others.

Even if this little girl - not so little anymore doesn't make it on tour she will know every part of tennis & the business in side & out. & I do mean the inside.

& yes from what I have heard it is very cut throat. For such a world wide sport it is a small world in South Fl.

I have the same coach for private and group;
He uses the same tactics, ideas, plans and exercises.
The only difference in private is that it is only you and your coach often practice shots one on one.
In group and private my coach ALWAYS tells me what to do improve, as it is a part of his job to help the student/trainee improve.

Hi Jeanne,
Are you still considering becoming a pro? I would recommend getting some tennis lessons and looking into some academy options. We offer free consulting if you want to talk to any of our agents about a good fit for you. Feel free to contact us at usacampagent@gmail.com and visit our web at www.sportcamptravel.com